Occupant-support fabric for deck or lawn-type tubular chair frame

ABSTRACT

A sling extending from the upper end of the back of a tubular chair frame comes down in a seat portion and forward, is looped about the forward cross-piece of the frame and is doubled back under the seat portion. A separate elongate reinforcing web underlies the seat portion and is secured thereto in a non-shiftable position by woven fasteners to the underside of the seat portion. The double-back end of the sling is secured to the woven fastener on the underside of the reinforcing web, and the ends of the reinforcing web loop around the side elements of the frame and then are attached to each other under the seat portion with the desired amount of tension.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a fabric seat and back for a tubular chairframe. More specifically, the invention relates to a fabric seat andback wherein the length of fabric for the back and seat is adjustable onthe frame and the fabric reinforcement web for the seat is adjustable sothat the contour of the support surfaces can be readily adjusted toplease the occupant and to accommodate occupants of different sizes andshapes.

The prior art includes a number of patents disclosing tubular-framedchairs wherein the seat and back panel is in the form of a single broadstrip or sling which is looped at either end, the loops each rounding across element of the chair frame. Among the chairs disclosed in theprior art having such structure is the rockable chair of deck or lawntype disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,059 to W. C. Martin issuedApr. 13, 1954.

Chairs of this general type in the prior art have often not beencomfortable to occupants, particularly occupants of large or heavystature in that a disproportionate part of their weight is centered overa seat portion of the broad strip and has caused the seat to sag down sothat the forwardmost cross-piece bears upwardly on the underside of theknees. What has been needed in such chairs, particularly of the rockablevariety, is means to support the seat portion of the strip so that itmay be raised to a height, for instance, above the front cross-piece tosupport even the heaviest occupant without depressing the seat portionto a level below the front cross-piece. Such a height assures that theoccupant is not subject to objectionable pressure on the underside ofthe knees as a result of the too prominent cross-piece.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Under the present invention there is provided a single-piece broad stripor sling extending from the top cross-piece down forward and loopedabout the forwardmost cross-piece to be doubled back under the sling. Aseparate elongate reinforcing web of fabric underlies the seat portionand is secured thereto in a non-shiftable position, either in a sidewaysdirection or backwards and forwards. The elongate reinforcing webextends laterally and is looped over side elements on either side of theseat portion and is attached to itself in a way that may be adjusted toincrease the tension.

Preferably, the reinforcing web is encircled by spaced bands of wovenfasteners and the sling has mating bands so that the underside of thesling is engaged in firm releasable attachment to the reinforcing weband the doubled-back portion of the sling engages the underside of thereinforcing web in similar attachment. The opposite ends of thereinforcing web are provided with rectangles of complementing wovenfasteners so that they can be firmly attached together. The wovenfastener may be of the "Velcro" type.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objects and features of the invention will be understood bythose skilled in the art from reference to the following specificationincluding the drawings, all disclosing a non-limiting form of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the back/seat sling laid out flat andthe support panel disposed crosswise and showing one end of the supportpanel folded over to expose a portion of its woven fastener;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary reduced bottom plan view of the front of thechair of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A chair embodying the invention is generally designated 10 in FIG. 1. Itcomprises a tubular frame 12 including a single generally rectangulartubular first element 14. Element 14 serves as both the back support atits upper end and the forward legs at its forward lower end.

Each of the elongate tubular sides of element 14 can be in two sections,divided intermediate the ends, hinged together (not shown) and can beselectively held in their continuous linear condition by a slidingsleeve 14a circumposing the adjacent ends of the two sections and thehinge and held there by stop means, spring detents (not shown) or thelike. Alternatively, the sleeve can be slid longitudinally of thetubular side to permit the two sections to be folded at the hinge forgreater compactness in traveling or storage.

A second element 16 which is U-shaped and bent downward at a forwardlocation comprises the arms of the chair and the forward cross-piece 18.At the rearward end of the arms the second element 16 is pivotallyattached respectively to the sides of the first element 14. A thirdU-shaped element 20 comprises rear legs and side elements 22 disposed ata level above the cross-piece 18. The third element is bent in arearward location as shown. Finally, separate stabilizing elements 24are secured between the rear and front legs to keep the lower portion ofthe two sets of legs appropriately spaced. As stated, the chair may becollapsed for travel or storage.

Turning now to the core of the invention, the chair further comprises afabric strip or sling 36. The upper rearward portion of the sling 36 hasa coextensive back panel (not shown) secured thereto at its top andsides to define a pocket 40 which receives the top of the tubular frame.The sling extends downward to constitute a back-supporting portion 42and a seat-supporting portion 44. The forward lower end of the slingloops around the forward cross member 18 and is doubled back under theseat portion 44 in a tail 46 (FIG. 2). As shown along the oppositemargins of the underside of the seat portion 44 and continuing along themargins of the tail portion 46 are strips of woven fastener 48, 50, suchas "Velcro".

An elongate seat-reinforcing web 52 of fabric is provided separate fromthe sling 36. It is encircled (FIG. 5) by spaced bands 54 of wovenfasteners adapted to mate with the strips 48, 50 on the sling 36. Thesebands are spaced apart the same distance as the bands 48, 50 on the seatand tail portions 44, 46 of the sling.

In assembly the bands 54 of the transverse web 52 are engaged againstthe respective bands 48, 50 of the underside of the seat portion 44 at aselected position so that when the sling and web are installed on theframe 12, the support web comes at the proper position in the seatportion to the liking of the occupant. The opposite ends of thetransverse reinforcing web 52 are provided on opposite sides (FIG. 2) ofthe web 52 with large rectangular patches of woven fasteners 56, 58 ofcomplementing nature.

In continuing description of the installation of the sling 36 and web 52to the chair frame 12, the doubled-back section of the tail 46 isbrought taut and pressed up against the underside of the support web 52so that the bands 48, 50 engage respectively the bands 54 of the webunder the seat portion 44. The engagement of the woven fastener bands48,50 with the bands 54 are sufficient to secure the front end of thesling 36.

In the next step, the ends of the web 52 are brought around the sideelements 22 and are brought down and inward against the underside of theseat portion 44, the non-woven fastener rectangles being broughttogether in secure releasable attaching relationship to effectivelyimpart to the reinforcing web 52 the desired amount of tension to giveproper support to the seat portion 44.

The adjustable nature of the sling and support panels will beappreciated. In the first place, by selectively positioning the tail 48against the midsection of panel 52 with the nonwoven fastener bands 48,50 engaging bands 54 just the desired amount of slack in the sling canbe effected. Additional adjustments are in the positioning of the crossweb 52 with respect to the seat portion 44 forward or rearward in thefinal assembly. The support can be localized to the position desired.

Further, the tension on the support panel 52 can be increased ordecreased depending on the relative position of the ends of the panel 52under the chair as those end rectangular portions are mating. In thismanner, because the side elements 22 are high relative to thecross-piece 18, an elevated seat portion 44 relative to the cross-piece18 can be achieved (FIG. 4). This, of course, assures that the occupantwill not have the pressure of the band 18 on the underside of his knees.The tension on the forward or rearward edges of web 52 can berespectively varied to some degree by angling the mating of therectangular patches of woven fastener 56, 58 (FIG. 6).

Thus, the novel arrangement of the fabric and non-woven fastenersprovide adjustability of the chair to the comfort of everyone, even themore heavyset occupant. The adjustability is readily effected so thatthe seat portion 44 will be higher than the cross-piece 18 so that theoccupant will not have the pressure of the cross-piece 18 on theunderside of his knees.

The adjustability is readily selected to suit and is totallyinconspicuous to the usual observer.

Variations in the invention are possible. Thus, while the invention hasbeen shown in only one embodiment, it is not so limited but is of ascope defined by the following claim language which may be broadened byan extension of the right to exclude others from making, using orselling the invention as is appropriate under the doctrine ofequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. Occupant-support fabric for a tubular chair frameincluding a back frame in the form of an inverted "U" with a pair ofparallel side generally vertical elements, and an associated seat framein the form of a pair of generally horizontal tubular side elements anda front tubular cross-piece running therebetween at a level therebelow,the fabric comprising:a. an elongate sling of fabric having a pocket atits upper end and a tail at its lower end, the pocket adapted to receivethe upper end of the back frame, the tail of the sling adjacent theelongate side edges on the same side as the pocket being provided withstrips of woven fastener; b. an elongate cross web perpendicular to andunder the sling and having encircling bands of mating woven fastenerspaced apart to coincide with the strips on the sling, the bandsengaging the strips respectively, the opposite ends of the cross webhaving patches of woven fastener and mating woven fasteners respectivelyon opposite sides thereof, the tail of the sling adapted to extend overthe cross-piece and being doubled back under the sling, the stripsengaging the underside of the bands and engaging the mating wovenfastener, the ends of the cross web adapted to extend over therespective side elements and be doubled back inward under the sling withthe patches on opposite ends being releasably interengagedwhereby theseat and back is adjustable both with respect to the slack of the slingand the position and amount of support provided by the cross web. 2.Occupant-support fabric as claimed in claim 1 wherein the patches areinterengaged canted with respect to each other to make one edge of thecross web under the sling more taut than the other.